The Infallible Imam and Confessing Sin in Prayer

From the Shi'a point of view, the Holy Prophet (S), Fatima Zahra (as), Amir al-Mu'min Ali (as) and eleven children of their generation are free from all sorts of impurity, sin and error. However, they have confessed to the great sins in the supplications and plead for the Allah's Mercy with weeping and moaning. Is the confession of sin compatible with the position of infallibility? Using the documentary method, this paper seeks to solve this problem and find a way of gathering between the status of infallibility and the confession of sin. While rejecting its improbability, this paper discusses various possibilities for understanding and interpreting these words that shows compatibility between them. These probabilities show that the issuance of this prayers and the confession of sin from the infallible Imams never imply their true sinfulness. Some of these probabilities include construction in the form of training, forgiveness on behalf of the nation, reconstruction of the previous levels of perfection, experience of all types of worship, observance of the etiquette of the Close Ones, paying attention to the essential need and the extreme humbleness before God' Majesty.